Simple Steps to Becoming a Christian
To start with there are some things that you need to believe and accept:
Believe in the existence of God – the Creator and sustainer of the universe
Christian belief is based on there being no one who is greater than God, and no one else like God; he is not one of many, he is the Creator of everything. If God is anything less than this, then he is not ‘God’.
Believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God – that he was born and lived a life in obedience to God
Christian belief is founded upon the person of Jesus; upon who he is and how he lived. If Jesus was not a man then he was not legally qualified to stand in our place, as our representative before God. If he is only a man then his sacrifice would, at best, be sufficient to cover the sins of only one human being. If Jesus was not entirely good, then he was not morally qualified to carry the burden of our wrongdoing.
Recognise your personal failure to live the way that is pleasing to God
We like to compare ourselves with other people: by this measure we may think that we are quite good. God doesn’t do this – he compares us with himself. Using this comparison we are anything but good, and are not fit to have a relationship with God.
Believe that Jesus died on the cross and, by doing so, took upon himself the consequences of your wrongdoing, guilt and shame
Someone had to take our place in paying our debts, debts which we cannot pay off ourselves. Jesus did this – he had no guilt of his own but paid the price of the guilty (death). Instead of carrying any guilt of his own, he carried ours, dying in our place. When Jesus died in our place he carried the sin of the whole world.
Recognise that God offers forgiveness and a new life to anyone who asks to be reconciled to him, based on the work done by Jesus when he died in our place
We can now come to God and ask to be reconciled to him, not because we are good enough, but because Jesus is. Jesus carried our sin and took our punishment upon himself. So when we ask this of God, the punishment that we are due has already been paid – God can forgive us and accept us into a close relationship with himself.
God is offering you forgiveness for whatever you have done, thought or felt in the past. More than that, his offer includes an ongoing, permanent, active involvement in your life – the opportunity to become a ‘Christ person’ or Christian.
Jesus died in your place, now he offers to come and be part of your life - if you will make a commitment to follow him and, from now on, live to please him rather than yourself.
If you believe these things about God and about your situation, and you want to grasp God’s offer to cleanse and to change your life, then you simply need to ask him.
Pray to God. Speak to him and tell him what you believe, and what you want to happen. Tell him that you are sorry for everything that you have done that has displeased him, and ask him to forgive you on the basis of what Jesus did for you when he died on the Cross. Commit yourself to live for God, whatever this may mean, and ask Jesus to become the ruler in your life.
You can ask him anywhere and at any time – but you have to do this yourself, in your own heart; others can’t do it for you. You can use your own words, but if you struggle to know what to say then here is an example prayer that you could use:
“Heavenly Father, I have lived my life in ways that haven’t pleased you; I am sorry and I ask you to forgive me for all my failings, because Jesus died in my place.
Jesus, I invite you to be Lord of my life. From now on I want to live the way that you will show me; I ask you to lead me into a new way of living that is pleasing to you.”
If YOU ask, HE will do it – immediately!
If you would like to look in the Bible to see what is actually written there, then here are some helpful references:
Romans 3:23 – Romans 6:23 – Isaiah 59:1,2 – Isaiah 53:5,6 – 1 Peter 2:24 – 1 Peter 3:18 Isaiah 55:7 – Mark 8:34-38 Romans 10:9,10 – Matthew 11:28 – Revelation 3:20 – John 5:24